Weather strip

ABSTRACT

A flexible weather strip adapted to be affixed to an enclosing structure to seal an opening therein and to provide improved air and water impermeability to said structure. A base strip of flexible material has two spaced-apart rows of pile fibers extending upwardly therefrom and longitudinally thereof. A center row of pile fibers having a lesser denier per filament and a greater filament density than the filaments of the two spacedapart rows is provided between said spaced rows to complete an arrangement which provides a circuitous path through which substantial amounts of air and water will not pass. A second preferred embodiment comprises two adjacent rows of pile fibers extending upwardly from the base strip and longitudinally thereof.

tilted States Terry, Jr. et al.

atent 1 1 WEATHER STRIP [73] Assignee: Riegel Textile Corporation, Ware Shoals, S.C.

22 Filed: Mar. 30, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 346,332

[52] U.S. Cl 161/63, 49/475, 49/489 [51] Int. Cl D04h 11/00, 1506b 7/22 [58] Field of Search 49/475, 489, 440, 441;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1958 Grede 161/63 10/1968 Johnson .r 161/64 Sept. 17, 1974 Primary ExaminerWilliam J. Van Balen Attorney, Agent, or FirmPennie & Edmonds [5 7 ABSTRACT A flexible weather strip adapted to be affixed to an enclosing structure to seal an opening therein and to provide improved air and water impermeability to said structure. A base strip of flexible material has two spaced-apart rows of pile fibers extending upwardly therefrom and longitudinally thereof. A center row of pile fibers having a lesser denier per filament and a greater filament density than the filaments of the two spaced-apart rows is provided between said spaced rows to complete an arrangement which provides a circuitous path through which substantial amounts of air and water will not pass. A second preferred embodiment comprises two adjacent rows of pile fibers extending upwardly from the base strip and longitudinally thereof.

16 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures WEATHER STRIP DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Weather strips generally are intended to provide a substantial degree of air impermeability to seal openings in enclosing structures and the like such that air at undesirable temperatures and water will not pass through the sealing strip. Numerous devices and methods such as rubber, felt, plastics and the like, have been used to provide wear resistance and friction combined with suitable air and water impermeability. Such earlier devices tended to generally deteriorate and deform causing a loss of effectiveness over relatively short cycles of use, while failing to adequately seal the structures to which they were affixed.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,002,253 to Kessler relates to a flexible Weatherstrip for retention in a re-entrant channel and having a bushy bundle of fibers of sufficient depth to accommodate itself to a large range of tolerances of closures. U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,256 to Horton relates to a Weatherstrip product having two longitudinal rows of long pile fibers extending from a base strip of sheet material with a flexible sheet material fixed at one edge to the base strip in a pile-free gap to project laterally from and extend longitudinally of the base strip to provide an airimpervious barrier. U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,257 to Kessler relates to a water-retarding pile Weatherstrip including a mass of resilient plastic foam having fibers extending beyond the mass of foam so as to cause the foam to provide the major sealing element. U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,047 to Horton relates to a Weatherstripping for use in a T-shaped article. The article includes an elongated backing strip with a row of pile fibers secured to the strip intermediate its edges to form an elongated, deep pile row of insulating fibers. An elongated metal holding strip is adapted for maintaining the pile row in a desired insulating position and is formed to define an elongate generally flat base portion forming the cross arm of a T. U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,190 to Jackson relates to Weatherstrip structures comprising a Weatherstrip and barrier member having edge flanges for engagement with associated structures whereby the Weatherstripping and barrier member is maintained in assembled relation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,487 to Johnson relates to Weatherstrip for sealing joints between relatively movable members comprising a backing strip having upstanding fibers attached to one face and a flexible film adhering to the fibers at one side of the fiber body to bridge the gap between adjacent fibers to provide a moisture barrier and an integral matrix-like reinforcement for the film over its area. Other patents include: U.S. Pat. No. 956,535 to Lotz; U.S. Pat. No. 1,492,052 to Tolman; U.S. Pat. No. 1,730,677 to Nelson; U.S. Pat. No. 1,191,556 to Blake; U.S. Pat. No. 1,971,493 to Leathers; U.S. Pat. No. 2,108,450 to Schlegal; U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,183 to Kessler; U.S. Pat. No. 2,702,914 to Kittle et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,829,000 to Levi. None of these patents relate to a weather strip product similar to the weather strip which we have invented, whereby a combination of specific types of filamentary yarn fibers of certain density and denier provides air and water impermeability and improved cost of production previously impossible with the weather strip of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a flexible strip for sealing and securing an enclosing structure and to seal an opening in said structure comprising a base strip of flexible sheet material having at least two spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers extending upwardly from a surface of the base strip and extending longitudinally thereof. A third, or center row of pile fibers extends upwardly from the surface of the base strip between the two spaced-apart rows of fibers and extends longitudinally of the base strip. The center row of pile fiber filaments have a lesser denier and a greater filament density than the fiber filaments of the two end rows. In the preferred embodiment, the end rows of pile fibers are formed by interweaving textured silicone-treated polypropylene yarn with the base sheet while the base sheet is woven, and the center row is formed by interweaving relatively low denier high density nylon filament yarn with the base sheet while it is woven. A coating of a thermoplastic material such as polypropylene is applied to the base sheet to provide semi-rigidity thereto as well as mounting capability.

In an alternate preferred embodiment of the invention, two rows of pile fibers extend from the base sheet in adjacent relation. One row is preferably comprised of polypropylene fibers, while the second row is comprised of relatively high density nylon filaments having relatively low denier pile filaments. It has been found that a superior weather strip is provided with economic advantages.

For the three-row preferred embodiment, it has been found that the arrangement of the end rows of lower density filaments combined with the center row of high density low denier filaments provides a circuitous path through which air and water will not pass in substantial amounts. The end rows of higher denier filaments tend to provide support to the finer filaments of the center row while providing additional resilience to the center row so as to maintain the sealing effectiveness of the weather strip. In addition, it has been found that the low denier, high density center fibers in particular, are effective over extended cycles of use as opposed to the flexible sheet materials, rubber, and the like, used in the prior art weather seals. When the earlier devices were worn or deformed due to wear, the air impermeable characteristics were impaired. In the weather strip of the present invention, the numerous pile fibers provide such random sealing that deformation of certain fibers is unlikely to affect the overall performance of the weather strip.

Further, while it is desirable to utilize siliconetreated filamentary yarns in manufacturing the present weather strip, it is not necessary to the effective performance of the seal. Silicone-treated yarns will provide improved water impermeability for the weather strip; however a certain degree of water impermeability is provided without such treatment. Further, while it is preferred that the filamentary pile fibers are interwoven with the base sheet, other means such as adhesives, flocking, etc. are also contemplated.

Also, other combinations of pile fiber materials such as wool, acrilan, polypropylene, mohair, etc. may be used where substantial resilience, low denier, and high density filaments may be obtained. In the preferred embodiment herein, it has been found that it is possible to provide high density filaments through the use of relatively low denier nylon yarn. Additional support and resilience is provided for the nylon filaments by the end rows of polypropylene filaments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention are described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the weather strip of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 22 of the weather strip of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of an alternate embodiment of the weather strip of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of another alternate embodiment of the weather strip of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross section of still another preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating a weather strip having two rows of pile fibers.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a preferred form of the present invention. A weather strip comprises a base strip 12 of flexible material which is preferably of woven construction. The material has extending upwardly from a surface, three rows of pile fibers 14, 18 and 21 which extend longitudinally of the strip. These rows are preferably interwoven with the base strip. The two spaced-apart end rows 14 and 21 are formed from textured polypropylene filamentary yarn and extend upwardly from surface portions 16 and 22 respectively of the base strip. The polypropylene yarn is preferably silicone treated to provide a water-impermeable barrier. The end rows of pile fibers may be of 3 denier per filament (dpf) yarn, but are preferably of about 16 dpf. Each end row has a fiber density of at least 2,000 filaments per inch, more or less depending upon the particular application.

A center row of pile fibers 18 extends upwardly from the surface portion 20 of the base strip between the two spacedapart end rows and is preferably formed from a fine nylon filamentary yarn having 3 denier per filament or less and having a filament density of 13,000 pile filaments per inch of length of weather strip. However, it is contemplated that the acceptable filament density may range from about 10,000 to about 16,000 filaments per inch of weather strip. The center row of pile fibers is also preferably formed from filamentary yarn which is silicone treated to provide water impermeability. The result of such an arrangement of fibers is to achieve an extremely dense pile, particularly in the center row, as to define a circuitous path through which substantial amounts of air and water will not pass. The first and third rows of polypropylene support the low denier, high density, nylon center row of pile and lend resilience to the pile filaments, while the combination of fiber rows provide effective sealing of air while providing limited flexibility to pennit attachment of the weather strip to structures by known channel members and the like generally used for attaching wheather strips to openings in structures. The thermoplastic backing may either be adhesively secured to the woven base material 12 or it may be extruded so as to coat and/or envelop the base sheet of material 12 with flange members such as shown at 30 and 32 in FIG. 4, for example. While the basic forms of base strips are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, it may be clearly seen that other configurations of base strips known in the prior art are also contemplated to be used in conjunction with the invention. In addition, it is also contemplated that other flexible materials such as nylon, vinyl, or glass fiber may be used to coat the base strip of sheet material.

In the preferred embodiment, the two end rows are comprised of textured, silicone-treated polypropylene fibers of about 16 denier per filament with each row having about 2,240 filaments per inch of weather strip. The center row of pile fibers is comprised of textured silicone-treated nylon fiber yarn of 2.9 to 3.0 denier per filament or less and about 13,000 filaments per inch of length of weather strip. The center pile row in the preferred form is made from two ends of nylon filamentary yarn, having a total of 1,200 denier and 408 filaments per yarn. Each end is comprised of 3 ply, 400 denier/ l 36 filament textured silicone treated nylon yarn. The spaced-apart end rows in the preferred form are made from textured, silicone-treated polypropylene yarn having a total denier of 1,125 and filaments per yarn or about 16 dpf. Other center yarns are contemplated which would provide at least 10,000 filaments per inch of weather strip. For example, an end may also advantageously be comprised of 4 ply, 400 denier/136 filament textured silicone treated nylon yarn having a total denier of 1,600.

The base strip in the preferred embodiment is woven from polypropylene yarn having a total of 400 denier with 68 filaments per end. The filling yarn, or weft, may be a cotton or other fiber. For example, a cotton yarn of 405 CC. (cotton count) with 2 strands per pick may be used in the weft at a rate of about 32 picks per inch. It has been found that a weather strip manufactured according to the present invention provides improved water and air impermeability combined with extended wear and resilience of the rows of pile fibers. The construction is durable and suitable for use in prime structures, aluminum doors and windows, etc., while providing economic manufacturing advantages.

The dimensions of the weather strip are dependent primarily upon the particular applications intended; however, in a typical embodiment, the overall base strip will have a width of about .25 inch and an overall height of about .25 inch, more or less, depending upon the application. Each end row of polypropylene fibers will measure approximately .030 inch in width, while the center row of nylon fibers will measure approximately .040 inch in width. Since the total width of the entire pile section will thus be approximately .100 inch, the total additional width of the base strip on each end provides flanges each of which are approximately .085 inch in width. This additional base strip material facilitates ready attachment of the strip to structures, doors, windows and the like. Usually in typical installations, the weather strip is received in channellike members or keeper members configured to conveniently accept the strip.

In a further embodiment of the invention, reference is made to FIG. 5 which illustrates a two row weather strip. A first row of pile fibers 34 is formed from silicone-treated textured polypropylene yarn of about 16 denier per filament and having about 2,000 filaments per inch of length of weather strip and extending upwardly from surface portion 42 of the surface of base strip of sheet material 38. A second row of pile fibers 36 extends upwardly from surface portion 44 of the surface of base strip of sheet material 38 and longitudinally thereof and is made from textured siliconetreated nylon yarn of about 3 dpf or less and having be tween 10,000 and 16,000 filaments per inch of length of weather strip. However, it is preferred that the row of nylon yarn has about 16,000 filaments per inch of length of weather strip. While the support provided by the single polypropylene pile to the nylon pile is not as substantial as is provided by the two outer rows of polypropylene fibers of the preferred embodiment, it will be seen that this arrangement provides substantially improved air and water impermeability over the weather strips of the prior art. Also, while the air and water impermeability provided by the single row of polypropylene fibers is not as substantial as the first three row preferred embodiment, the two row embodiment is substantially improved over seals of the prior art.

We claim:

1. A flexible weather strip adapted to be affixed to an enclosing structure and to seal an opening in the structure comprising:

a. a base strip of flexible sheet material;

b. at least two spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers extending upwardly from a surface of said base strip and extending longitudinally thereof; and

c. a center row of pile fibers extending upwardly from the surface of said base strip between and adjacent to said two spaced-apart rows and extending longitudinally of said base strip, said center pile fibers having a lesser denier per filament and a greater filament density than the fibers of said spaced-apart rows thereby providing a circuitous path to substantially seal the opening in said enclosing structure.

2. The flexible weather strip according to claim 1 wherein said base strip comprises a woven textile material and said pile fibers are interwoven into said base stri 3 The flexible weather strip according to claim 2 wherein said base strip of woven material is coated with a thermoplastic material so as to cause the base strip to be semi-rigid to provide convenient mounting in said structure.

4. The flexible weather strip according to claim 3 wherein said thermoplastic material of said base strip is integrally extruded and formed substantially around said base strip of woven textile material so as to substantially envelop said woven material.

5. The flexible weather strip according to claim 3 wherein said thermoplastic material is adhesively secured to said base strip of woven textile material.

6. The flexible weather strip according to claim 2 wherein the fibers of the two spaced-apart end rows are treated with silicone so as to provide an improved water-impermeable barrier.

7. The weather strip according to claim 6 wherein the filamentary fibers of the center row are treated with silicone to provide an improved water impermeable barnet.

8. The weather strip according to claim 7 wherein the fibers of each spaced-apart end row are interwoven with the base material and are formed from textured filamentary fiber yarns.

9. The weather strip according to claim 8 wherein said thermoplastic material on said base strip is polypropylene.

10. The weather strip according to claim 9 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers comprise textured polypropylene fibers and said center row comprises nylon pile fibers.

lll. The weather strip according to claim 10 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of textured polypropylene fibers are interwoven with the base material from filamentary yarn having about 16 denier per filament and said center row of pile fibers are interwoven with the base material from nylon filamentary yarn having about 3 denier per filament or less.

12. The weather strip according to claim 9 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers comprise textured polypropylene fibers and said center row of pile fibers comprise wool fibers.

13. The weather strip according to claim 9 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers comprise textured polypropylene fibers and said center row of pile fibers comprise a combination of approximately percent wool and approximately 10 percent nylon fibers.

14. The weather strip according to claim 10 wherein said center row of pile fibers has at least 10,000 pile filaments per inch of length of weather strip, said filaments being about 3 denier per filament or less and each end row of polypropylene fibers comprises at least 2,000 filaments per inch of weather strip, said filaments being at least 3 denier per filament.

15. The weather strip according to claim 14 wherein said center row of pile fibers has about 16,000 filaments per inch of length of weather strip, each filament being about 3 denier per filament or less and each end row of polypropylene fibers comprises about 2,240 filaments per inch of length of weather strip, each filament being about 16 denier per filament.

16. A flexible weather strip adapted to be affixed to an enclosing structure and to seal an opening in the structure comprising:

a. a base strip of flexible sheet material;

b. a first row of pile fibers extending upwardly from a surface of said base strip and extending longitudinally of said base strip; and

c. a second row of pile fibers having a lesser denier than said first row of fibers and having a fiber density greater than said fibers of said first row and extending upwardly from the surface of said base strip in adjacent relation to said first row thereby providing a substantially circuitous path for sealing the opening in said enclosing structure by preventing passage of substantial amounts of air and water. 

2. The flexible weather strip according to claim 1 wherein said base strip comprises a woven textile material and said pile fibers are interwoven into said base strip.
 3. The flexible weather strip according to claim 2 wherein said base strip of woven material is coated with a thermoplastic material so as to cause the base strip to be semi-rigid to provide convenient mounting in said structure.
 4. The flexible weather strip according to claim 3 wherein said thermoplastic material of said base strip is integrally extruded and formed substantially around said base strip of woven textile material so as to substantially envelop said woven material.
 5. The flexible weather strip according to claim 3 wherein said thermoplastic material is adhesively secured to said base strip of woven textile material.
 6. The flexible weather strip according to claim 2 wherein the fibers of the two spaced-apart end rows are treated with silicone so as to provide an improved water-impermeable barrier.
 7. The weather strip according to claim 6 wherein the filamentary fibers of the center row are treated with silicone to provide an improved water impermeable barrier.
 8. The weather strip according to claim 7 wherein the fibers of each spaced-apart end row are interwoven with the base material and are formed from textured filamentary fiber yarns.
 9. The weather strip according to claim 8 wherein said thermoplastic material on said base strip is polypropylene.
 10. The weather strip according to claim 9 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers comprise textured polypropylene fibers and said center row comprises nylon pile fibers.
 11. The weather strip according to claim 10 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of textured polypropylene fibers are interwoven with the base material from filamentary yarn having about 16 denier per filament and said center row of pile fibers are interwoven with the base material from nylon filamentary yarn having about 3 denier per filament or less.
 12. The weather strip according to claim 9 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers comprise textured polypropylene fibers and said center row of pile fibers comprise wool fibers.
 13. The weather strip according to claim 9 wherein said spaced-apart end rows of pile fibers comprise textured polypropylene fibers and said center row of pile fibers comprise a combiNation of approximately 90 percent wool and approximately 10 percent nylon fibers.
 14. The weather strip according to claim 10 wherein said center row of pile fibers has at least 10,000 pile filaments per inch of length of weather strip, said filaments being about 3 denier per filament or less and each end row of polypropylene fibers comprises at least 2,000 filaments per inch of weather strip, said filaments being at least 3 denier per filament.
 15. The weather strip according to claim 14 wherein said center row of pile fibers has about 16,000 filaments per inch of length of weather strip, each filament being about 3 denier per filament or less and each end row of polypropylene fibers comprises about 2,240 filaments per inch of length of weather strip, each filament being about 16 denier per filament.
 16. A flexible weather strip adapted to be affixed to an enclosing structure and to seal an opening in the structure comprising: a. a base strip of flexible sheet material; b. a first row of pile fibers extending upwardly from a surface of said base strip and extending longitudinally of said base strip; and c. a second row of pile fibers having a lesser denier than said first row of fibers and having a fiber density greater than said fibers of said first row and extending upwardly from the surface of said base strip in adjacent relation to said first row thereby providing a substantially circuitous path for sealing the opening in said enclosing structure by preventing passage of substantial amounts of air and water. 